Jasper Public Schools

Jasper Collegiate Institute was organized on November 24, 1851, the Handbook of Texas says, with a charter stating its purpose as the promotion of useful knowledge and the advancement of the sciences. It was nondenominational, and under president Marcus A. Montrose it drew scholars and boarders through the 1850s. The Civil War dampened interest, and the entry says declining support forced it to close before the war ended. Postwar efforts to revive it, including one as the Jasper County Male and Female High School, failed by 1878, when Southeast Texas Male and Female College replaced it.

What the plaque says

Jasper Public Schools Jasper Collegiate Institute, first local center for higher leaning, opened 1851; partially tax-supported, coeducational. First president was noted East Texas educator Marcus Montrose, graduate, Edinburgh University. After losses caused by Civil War (1861-1865), it was succeeded 1878 by Southeast Texas Male and Female College, which attained enviable status, and enjoyed the financial support of citizens of Jasper before closing in 1910. College properties, including a new building erected 1900, were deeded to the elementary and high schools of Jasper. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Martin Dies, Jr. State Park — 13 mi
  A 705-acre state park on Steinhagen Reservoir at the meeting of the Neches and Angelina rivers, with about 14 miles of paddling trails through sloughs and more than 200 campsites.

More markers nearby

• Jasper County, C. S. A. — 0.5 mi
• Jasper "News-Boy" — 0.5 mi
• Jasper County Courthouse — 0.5 mi
• Site of J.H. Rowe School — 1.2 mi